Many consumer items today are packaged by manufacturers for purposes of transportation and shipment to retailers who thereafter remove the items from the container and place them on display in the retail outlet on counters or shelves for the convenience of the consumer. For the most part, such items are packaged in materials such as kraft paper or corrugated board depending on the strength required by the container. In many cases, and particularly with kraft paper packaging material, no opening feature is provided for the container so that, in order to remove the contents thereof, it is necessary to dismantle the container, which may result in its destruction. In some situations, such as containers formed with corrugated board packaging material, an opening feature in the form of score lines which define the desired opening are provided. However, such an opening feature is oftentimes inadequate since the tear resistance of such materials is high resulting in uneven tearing of the packaging material and destruction of the container itself. It is also possible to utilize a sharp object, such as a knife, for the purpose of cutting the packaging material along desired lines. This means, however, is dangerous and can result in injury or damage to the contents of the container and consequent wastage.
As indicated above, containers formed of kraft paper, paperboard or corrugated board containing consumer items are opened and the items removed and positioned on shelves or counters at the retail outlet. In certain embodiments the containers are themselves display-ready after they are opened. Opening of the container and the removal (from non display-ready containers) and display of the consumer items is a labor intensive operation which requires a person to physically perform the necessary operations. A great benefit could, therefore, be derived if the container itself could be utilized at the retail outlet as the display device for the consumer units thereby eliminating much of the labor presently necessary for removing the units from the container for display. However, this is not possible where the container itself is destroyed during the opening process or else, in those situations where an opening feature was provided, this proved to be inadequate.
Pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes made with thin plastic film substrates are currently available for tear opening of containers, but such tapes do not demonstrate sufficient tensile strength to pull cleanly through paper board substrates, particularly corrugated board substrates. In addition, the PSA plastic film tapes suffer from poor nick resistance and inadequate bond strength to paper board substrates. Further, it is not possible to cut plastic film tapes in line to form a tear tab.